Which first time flat strings?

[Killed_by_Death]

 

While we're on about 'flat stings', here's Sting's flat:

 

[wateroftyne]

...while this man flings stats:

 

[lee650]

2 hours ago, Reggaebass said:

You may have had different fender flats to me, mine were high tension and quite bright, they wasn’t for me, I use labella LTFs on everything now 🙂

Slight Clarification to that part of my post! The fenders  I had were on a bass Id bought, but chances are they'd died down. I still  found them medium tension,definately a middle ground between labellas and TI, I didn't keep them on long, as I put EB cobalts on that bass. Tension is subjective 😁

Edited May 20, 2021 by lee650

[Chienmortbb]

On 20/05/2021 at 10:32, lee650 said:

I've tried a couple

Labella Deep Talkin - very stiff to play and a very deep, rich thump. Very punchy and warm, no highs at all. Very smooth windings and lovely to play, classic P tone.
They have a low tension set too, which have the same smooth feel and a similar tone, but very pliant and "Bendy" very easy to get about on.

D'addario Chromes- once again quite stiff,and you can feel the wraps under your fingers. They have a very prominent high mid "clank" to my ears,but smooth out to a punchy thump over time. Great strings for rock.

Ernie Ball Cobalts- these have a very low tension and are lovely to play,almost similar tension to the same gauge rounds (slight difference) you can feel the wraps on these,but not as much as the chromes. These are the perfect strings as a gateway to flats, as they have a bright tone, reminiscent of slightly worn in nickel roundwounds. I've recently converted my old jazz to passive/vintage specs and I intend to put a set of these on it.

Thomastik Infeld - my faves! They have a very low tension "loose" feel,that many don't like, but a breeze to get about on.the wraps are fairly smooth so nice under the fingers. They have a very sweet bright tone, but a very tight bottom so initially don't have The thump of other flats, but darken over time. It's a quality tone, as you'd imagine from a company that primarily makes strings for orchestral instruments, I have these on my P bass.

Fender - these have a medium tension and have a fairly smooth feel. Not much in the way of highs, but a decent warm thump, sortve how you'd imagine a flat would sound like with a P bass. There's nothing wrong with these strings at all (I think they are made by GHS or maybe D'addario i could be wrong), but I found the tone a bit "meh"🤣 but they are the cheapest of the bunch (that I've tried, the Adagio may be cheaper), and I'd certainly recommend you try these, to see if you like flats.

A bit like trying Whiskey for the first time. If you like it, then many more flavours of flat avail able😁

The clue on Fenders (at least those I have on my beater bass) is the coloured ball ends. They went from their own make to D'Addarios some years ago. However the feel and sound the same to me. "Meh" just about sums it up.

[Jonesy]

I'm fairly new to the world of flats, but so far.....

I thought I'd experiment with a relatively cheap (for flats) fender set for my first pair and whacked them on a Precision. I'm not a fan really, the tension is too high for me personally and it feels like I'm playing with cables. Over the past few years I've become predominantly a pick player (I've been playing in heavier/louder bands), but after playing with fingers (in a blues band) in a 3hr rehearsal I found my fingers were hurting with the fender flats. I still have calluses, so don't think it's a case of having wussy fingers, but I am quite heavy handed.

A few months ago I out some TI flats on an SG and they're a dream to play. Really easy to fret, really easy to bend and they sound great too. Although they're a bit more expensive, they'd be my first choice.

[Sardonicus]

I've used Fender 9050's and Rotosound  RS77LD and they are both great but, I started using Elites Detroit Flats and they are amazing.  Nice deep thump and they are louder than the other two.

[Dan Dare]

If you're coming from rounds and want a halfway house between them and full on flat wound thump, try D'Addario Chromes in 40-95 gauge. They are slightly lower tension than most flats, so won't feel like ropes under your fingers and you shouldn't need to adjust the truss rod. They are quite bright to start with and mellow nicely, but without going to the full aged La Bella thud. They work particularly well on a Jazz bass.

[Rusco]

Hi all - old thread alert but I'm the OP so hopefully it's allowed 🙂

 

After all the kind suggestions and advice I thought I'd come back and tell you what I did.  After a lot of procrastinating I finally bought LaBella DTB Flats to try. They're not the cheapest but thinking they have the history and are a good place to start. First impressions... flats feel strange! After getting used to them I really like them and they certainly give a warmer thump over the stock Fender P strings they replaced. OK they clearly aren't going to work for all genres but I have round wound strung basses for that.

 

I think I'm a convert to the world of flats!

[shoulderpet]

7 hours ago, Rusco said:

Hi all - old thread alert but I'm the OP so hopefully it's allowed 🙂

 

After all the kind suggestions and advice I thought I'd come back and tell you what I did.  After a lot of procrastinating I finally bought LaBella DTB Flats to try. They're not the cheapest but thinking they have the history and are a good place to start. First impressions... flats feel strange! After getting used to them I really like them and they certainly give a warmer thump over the stock Fender P strings they replaced. OK they clearly aren't going to work for all genres but I have round wound strung basses for that.

 

I think I'm a convert to the world of flats!

Nice, glad you are getting on with them, I use TI Jazz flats as they can do a good flatwound sound but with the eq set the right way they can do a good convincing rock tone too and through my Sansamp clone that I use they sound downright snarling and aggressive

Edited February 9, 2022 by shoulderpet